Intel Arc A550M vs NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile Comparison

The data in this database shows a clear performance hierarchy between the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile and the Intel Arc A550M. Across the two recorded benchmark tests, the NVIDIA part wins both, but the magnitude of the victory is not uniform. The RTX A3000 Mobile leads by a substantial margin in OpenCL compute, while the Vulkan gap is much narrower. These results place the two mobile GPUs in different performance percentiles, with the NVIDIA part sitting at the 91st percentile of all GPUs and the Intel part at the 86th. For a workstation-oriented mobile GPU versus a mainstream mobile gaming part, the recorded data suggests that the choice depends heavily on the workload and the API in question.

The Verdict

The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile is the faster GPU in both recorded benchmarks, and it should be the pick for users who need maximum compute throughput and raw performance in OpenCL-heavy applications. Its average benchmark score of 70140 places it well above the Intel Arc A550M's average of 49737, a difference of roughly 41% in favor of the NVIDIA part. The RTX A3000 Mobile also holds the 91st percentile ranking, which indicates it outperforms the vast majority of GPUs in the database, while the Arc A550M sits at the 86th percentile.

However, the Intel Arc A550M is not without its own strengths. In the Vulkan test, the RTX A3000 Mobile wins by only 23.4%, which is a far smaller margin than the 58.5% lead in OpenCL. This suggests that the Arc A550M's architecture is relatively more competitive in graphics-oriented APIs. Users who prioritize Vulkan-based gaming or applications that leverage that API may find the Arc A550M to be a more balanced option, especially given its lower power draw of 60 W compared to the RTX A3000 Mobile's 70 W. The Intel part also offers 8 GB of memory versus 6 GB on the NVIDIA part, which could matter for larger datasets or higher-resolution textures.

The verdict is straightforward: the RTX A3000 Mobile is the superior performer for compute-heavy tasks, while the Arc A550M is a viable alternative for those who need lower power consumption, more memory, and a smaller performance deficit in Vulkan workloads. Neither part is a clear winner across every metric, but the NVIDIA GPU's overall average score and percentile ranking make it the default recommendation for maximum performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different architectural lineages. The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture, using the GA104 chip fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 17,400 million transistors on a die size of 392 mm², yielding a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the Intel Arc A550M uses the Xe-HPG architecture with the DG2-512 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 6 nm process. Intel's chip packs 21,700 million transistors onto a 406 mm² die, achieving a higher transistor density of 53.4 million per square millimeter.

The core configurations differ significantly. The RTX A3000 Mobile has 4096 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, 64 render output units, 32 ray tracing cores, and 128 tensor cores. The Arc A550M has exactly half the shading units at 2048, but it matches the NVIDIA part with 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs. Intel's GPU includes 16 ray tracing cores, and notably, the database lists no tensor cores for the Intel part, indicating a lack of dedicated tensor hardware that NVIDIA includes with its 128 tensor cores.

Memory configurations also diverge. The NVIDIA GPU uses 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth and running at an effective speed of 11 Gbps. The Intel GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a narrower 128-bit bus, which results in lower bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s despite a higher memory clock of 14 Gbps effective. The clock speeds tell a similar story: the RTX A3000 Mobile has a base clock of 600 MHz and a boost of 1230 MHz, while the Arc A550M runs at a base of 900 MHz and boosts to 2050 MHz. The Intel part's higher clocks partially compensate for its lower core count, but the NVIDIA part still wins in raw FP32 throughput.

Compute rates reflect the architectural choices. The RTX A3000 Mobile achieves 10.08 TFLOPS of FP32 and the same 10.08 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio). The Arc A550M delivers 8.397 TFLOPS of FP32 but doubles its FP16 output to 16.79 TFLOPS (at a 2:1 ratio), which indicates a different design philosophy that favors half-precision workloads. Pixel and texture rates also differ: the Intel part achieves 131.2 GPixel/s and 262.4 GTexel/s, while the NVIDIA part reaches 78.72 GPixel/s and 157.4 GTexel/s. This is a notable inversion, as the Intel GPU outpaces the NVIDIA GPU in fill-rate metrics despite losing in compute.

The power envelopes differ as well, with the RTX A3000 Mobile rated at 70 W and the Arc A550M at 60 W. Both use a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, and both are marked as end-of-life production status. The NVIDIA part was released on 2021-04-11, while the Intel part has no recorded release date. The RTX A3000 Mobile's predecessor is listed as Quadro Turing-M and its successor as Ada-MW, whereas the Intel part has no predecessor or successor recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two head-to-head benchmark results between these GPUs. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile scores 79091 against the Intel Arc A550M's 49894. This gives the NVIDIA part a 58.5% advantage, which is the largest margin in either test. The OpenCL result is consistent with the compute-focused design of the Ampere architecture, which pairs a high shading unit count with dedicated tensor cores to accelerate general-purpose workloads.

In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the gap narrows considerably. The RTX A3000 Mobile scores 61189, while the Arc A550M scores 49580, resulting in a 23.4% lead for the NVIDIA part. The Intel GPU's higher boost clock of 2050 MHz and its superior pixel and texture rates likely contribute to its relatively stronger showing in a graphics-centric API like Vulkan. The 8 GB memory capacity might also help in certain Vulkan workloads that require larger framebuffers or texture pools.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the head-to-head results. The RTX A3000 Mobile has an average score of 70140, while the Arc A550M averages 49737. This places the NVIDIA part in a different performance tier, as evidenced by its nearest rivals. The RTX A3000 Mobile's closest competitors include the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (average score 69986, 0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 (average score 69870, 0.4% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE (average score 70829, 1% ahead), and the NVIDIA CMP 90HX (average score 69000, 1.7% behind). These rivals are all desktop-class GPUs, which highlights how strong the mobile RTX A3000 part is for its class.

The Arc A550M's nearest rivals tell a different story. It sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (average score 49957, 0.4% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (average score 50001, 0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (average score 50951, 2.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (average score 48477, 2.6% behind). The Intel part's performance is comparable to these desktop GPUs, but it does not reach the same tier as the RTX A3000 Mobile's rivals.

In terms of wins, the RTX A3000 Mobile takes both of the two recorded benchmark tests, giving it a 2-0 record. The Intel Arc A550M does not win any of the head-to-head comparisons. However, the Vulkan result shows that the Intel part is not completely outclassed, and its fill-rate advantages suggest it could be more competitive in certain rendering scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 70140, while the Intel Arc A550M has an average score of 49737. The NVIDIA part outperforms the Intel part by roughly 41% on average.

Q: How much faster is the RTX A3000 Mobile in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX A3000 Mobile scores 79091 versus the Arc A550M's 49894, giving the NVIDIA part a 58.5% lead.

Q: What is the performance difference in Vulkan?

A: The RTX A3000 Mobile scores 61189 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Arc A550M scores 49580. The NVIDIA part leads by 23.4%, which is a smaller margin than the OpenCL gap.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A550M have any advantages over the NVIDIA part?

A: Yes, the Arc A550M has 8 GB of memory versus 6 GB on the RTX A3000 Mobile, and it has a lower power draw of 60 W compared to 70 W. It also achieves higher pixel and texture rates, with 131.2 GPixel/s and 262.4 GTexel/s versus 78.72 GPixel/s and 157.4 GTexel/s on the NVIDIA part.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile has 4096 shading units, while the Intel Arc A550M has 2048. The NVIDIA part also has 32 ray tracing cores and 128 tensor cores, while the Intel part has 16 ray tracing cores and no listed tensor cores.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX A3000 Mobile has a 192-bit memory bus and delivers 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc A550M has a 128-bit bus and delivers 224.0 GB/s, which is lower despite its higher effective memory clock of 14 Gbps.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A3000 Mobile wins decisively in compute-heavy workloads. Its 58.5% OpenCL advantage and 10.08 TFLOPS of FP32 performance make it the clear choice for scientific computing, AI inference, and any application that leverages general-purpose GPU compute. The 128 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for machine learning tasks, which the Intel part lacks entirely. The NVIDIA GPU's 91st percentile ranking and its proximity to desktop-class rivals like the Quadro P6000 and Radeon Pro WX 8200 indicate that it belongs in a higher performance tier.

The Arc A550M wins in efficiency and fill-rate metrics. Its 60 W power draw is 10 W lower than the RTX A3000 Mobile's 70 W, which could translate to better battery life or less thermal throttling in thin laptops. The higher pixel rate of 131.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 262.4 GTexel/s suggest that the Intel part may be better suited for certain rasterization-heavy workloads that depend on fill-rate rather than raw compute. The 8 GB memory capacity also gives it an advantage in scenarios where VRAM usage exceeds 6 GB, such as high-resolution texture streaming or larger virtual scenes.

For Vulkan-based applications, the decision is less clear-cut. The RTX A3000 Mobile still wins by 23.4%, but the smaller margin indicates that the Arc A550M's higher boost clock of 2050 MHz and its fill-rate strengths narrow the gap. Users who primarily run Vulkan games or applications may find the Intel part to be a more balanced choice, especially when factoring in its lower power draw and larger memory pool. However, the NVIDIA part still holds the overall performance crown. The data shows that the RTX A3000 Mobile is the superior choice for maximum compute performance, while the Arc A550M offers a more efficient package with better fill-rate characteristics and more memory.